Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck and Clara Yuan/Red Sports

B Division Boys' 3000m

Isaac Tan (#210) of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in action. He clocked a timing of 9:39.21 to clinch the gold medal. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Bukit Gombak Stadium, Tuesday, April 14, 2015 — Isaac Tan (#210) of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) led from start to finish to claim the B Division 3000m gold with a time of 9 minutes and 39.21 seconds at the 56th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.

Brandon Quek (#511) of Commonwealth Secondary finished in 9:50.47 to win silver, and Syed Hussein (#404) of Pasir Ris Secondary was third in 9:53.36.

A small front pack, consisting of Isaac and Hussein, was formed at the start of the race, while the rest of the field strung out with Brandon leading the chase pack.

A kilometre into the race, Isaac broke off to run a race of his own and left Hussein and Brandon to fight for second and third place. Eventually, Brandon’s early surge with two rounds left saw him pull away from Hussein easily, and the race ended with Isaac in first place, Brandon in second and Hussein in third.

Gold medalist Isaac, who came in second last year, was happy with the result.

“Although there was competition, I had high hopes of winning today’s race. I’m glad that everyone, especially Brandon, did well,” he said.

“I felt that I was in top form today. At the end, I was tiring out but I told myself to keep pushing and stay relaxed,” Isaac explained, when asked about his commanding lead that he established early in the race.

For his next event, Isaac will be running the 3000m steeplechase and mentioned Brandon as his strongest competitor.

Brandon came in sixth last year in the B Division 3000m event. On his podium finish, he said that he was “honoured to get a medal after working hard for four years”, and credits his coaches and friends for his achievement. “They all have a part to play, especially my training mates from different schools – they make training fun,” he said.

Sharing similar sentiments was third-placer Hussein, a newcomer in this event and division. Previously specialising in shorter distance like the 800m and 1500m events, the 15-year-old felt that “it was a good experience” despite the “tough competition compared to other years”. “I will get better in time,” he concluded.

The electronically-timed meet record stands at 9:21.26, set by Jeffrey Ng, then of Catholic High, in 2003, while the hand-timed record is 8:50.6, held by Gan Eng Seng Secondary alumnus, S Swendran, in 1979.

B Div 3000m (Boys) Results
1st: Tan Wei Long Isaac (#210, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) – 9:39.21
2nd: Brandon Quek (#511, Commonwealth Secondary School) – 9:50.47
3rd: Syed Hussein B Syed Negaib A (#404, Pasir Ris Secondary School) – 9:53.36
4th: Chirag Gupta (#277, Raffles Institution) – 10:01.23
5th: Pek Dong Heng (#518, Commonwealth Secondary School) – 10:11.55
6th: Azure Dhilawala Mohan (#461, Victoria School) – 10:12.39
7th: Fang Yiyang (#513, Commonwealth Secondary School) – 10:12.97
8th: Yap Sae-Hwa Daniel (#212, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) – 10:13.20
9th: Bjorn Lee Yu Xuan (#192, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) – 10:19.29
10th: Louis Shia Wei Jie (#118, North Vista Secondary School) – 10:19.77

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